A paean inspired by the second hat-trick in as many games. And a regret.

God I love Burrows. I remember about a month or two before Vigneault put that line together, I was thinking, "Damn, why don't they try Burrows with the twins? He's got good hands, he gets open, he goes to the net..." and in spite of the million armchair generals juggling lines on the internet, no one suggested that. Burrows was just too good with Kesler, and too good a third-liner.

Unfortunately, at that time I wasn't posting here (trying to avoid reading the aggro posts of a couple of people), so I never said anything. But, damn, at times like this it would be great to link to a prescient post like that and say, "Look at me! I'm a fucking genius!"

orts wrote:
God I love Burrows. I remember about a month or two before Vigneault put that line together, I was thinking, "Damn, why don't they try Burrows with the twins? He's got good hands, he gets open, he goes to the net..." and in spite of the million armchair generals juggling lines on the internet, no one suggested that. Burrows was just too good with Kesler, and too good a third-liner.

Farhan suggested this. Pretty much every (me included) said he should put down the pipe and get back to studying his whatever-he-is-studying.

Always seemed like a dumb idea to me which goes to show that dumb ideas sometimes work. Nobody thought Morrison would work with Bertuzzi and Naslund either.

And for AV, it was an act of desperation. He deserves the credit, but I don't know if he would claim it was anything other than a mad scientist experiment.

I like Burrows he is probably one of my favourite players on the team. But without the twins he is a good third liner, a good penalty killer, and a bit of a rodent. Burrows missed Daniel more than Henrik did and perhaps that shouldn't have been surprising. But he is certainly a good fit with the twins and he is certainly showing that.

He really didn't seem to have good hands at all really. He made moves with the puck on the rush, but in terms of getting it upstairs in tight or being able to hold position and still get a shot off in the slot, he seemed to flub all the opportunities he got while on the third line. I guess, with practice he's improved.

the toucan kid wrote:He really didn't seem to have good hands at all really. He made moves with the puck on the rush, but in terms of getting it upstairs in tight or being able to hold position and still get a shot off in the slot, he seemed to flub all the opportunities he got while on the third line. I guess, with practice he's improved.

Can't ask for a better triplet.

I actually remember in the first few games that Burrows played in the NHL, he was sold as a scoring prospect. Not long after that, he earned an NHL job with hard work and good defensive plays, and he probably focused more on those aspects as a result. And now he's kind of a hybrid all-around player. He is one of the best penalty killers on the team, but he can also mesh with the Sedins better than anyone else on the team. So the coach use him on the PK and 5-on-5 only.

I actually remember in the first few games that Burrows played in the NHL, he was sold as a scoring prospect. Not long after that, he earned an NHL job with hard work and good defensive plays, and he probably focused more on those aspects as a result. And now he's kind of a hybrid all-around player. He is one of the best penalty killers on the team, but he can also mesh with the Sedins better than anyone else on the team. So the coach use him on the PK and 5-on-5 only.

A bargain at 2 mil and thank goodness, or we might not be able to afford him in the near future.

Then Farhan's a genius! or, at least, even a stopped clock reads the right time twice a day ;)

Here's a really insightful article on how the Sedin/Burrows line came about, with interesting soundbites from Vigneault and the players themselves. Vigneault suggests that it was a happy accident born of desperation:

I find the West Coast Express comparisons interesting, not least because I never really was a fan of the WCE. In that, I am no doubt in the minority. I guess I missed their glory years, since I was living further out east 1998-2001 and the games were late and anyway I didn't have a tv. But even in 2002-3, I didn't enjoy watching those three players as much as I enjoy watching the triplets.

And speaking of line names, I enjoyed reading the ridiculous debate on the HF forums about catchy names for the line (as if it weren't already called the "Sedin line"!)... "Two Euros and a Loonie"; "The Dark Horse Line"; "The Tricycle Line" (probably the most memorable, most descriptive, and smoothest to say); and my personal favourite, both for sound and sense, "The 69 Line" (22+33+14=). Moot, but fun.